Casket support and transfer



Aug. 7, 1928 S. C. SWEIGART CASKET SUPPORT AND TRANSFER Filed March 10, 1927 V I v mm 7% 3? unis 3mm 0 Q Patented Aug. 7, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENToF I sAJstUEL c, swEIeAn'r, or LINeLEsrrowN, PENNSYLVANIA.

CASKET surro'n'r AND TRANSFER.

Application filed March 10, 1927. SerialNo. 174,262.

This invention relates to supports and transfers for caskets, coflins or other heavy articles, and has for an object the provision of novel means whereby devices of this charaeter, to be hereinafter referred to as casket-s, may be conveniently and expeditiously moved. from a house and supported while the bearers are forming in position to receive the casket and the handles are manipulated in 1 order that they may be taken by the bearers outside of the house.

It is well known that the handling of caskets in congested or restricted passages and in thresholds involves great care and the restricted space often necessitates the carrying of the casket by two directors or attendants,

that all that is necessary for the director to do is to exert pressure which will tend to move it with respect to the support.

It is a further object of this invention'to moved from a door frame and which is made adjustable to operative position or to a position whichwill remove the casket supporting elements as obstruct-ions to the free passage of the threshold.

It 1s a still further object of this invention to provide means by which the casket supporting elements will be held in operative position in a manner which Wlll permit it to be expeditiously released and moved to unguard the threshold.

With the'foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, refhavinga base 5 are integral or'joined together at the lower been afforded the funeral directors in.

threshold and the said device is-capable of supporting the full weight of the casket, so

"upper erence will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application, wherein like characters denote correspondin%parts in the several views, and in whichigure 1 illustrates a view in elevation of the device applied to a door frame;

Figure 2 illustrates a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 illustrates a'sectional view of the upper arm and rollers associated with it;

Figure 4' illustrates a; plan view of the latch and parts associated with it; and

Figure 5illust'rates a perspective View of a fragment of a door frame with a filler block applied thereto.

In these drawings, the casket supporting brackets and the parts'ass'ociated with them I are duplicated for use, one on each side of the door frame. Each unit includes a frame and a standard'G and-they end of the standard. The base is formed to provide a guide and socket 7 at its inner end and the socket is providedwith a set screw 8 which is'threaded in the said base and is intended to abut a spacing bar 9'. The ends of the spacing bar are adjustable in the two bases and by this means, the two units are' held in spaced relation to each other, ac-

cording to the width of the door frame in which they are employed, it being understood that by means of the adjustable connection between the sections and spacing-bar,

the units may be stationed at different positions with relation to each other. provide a device of the character mdlcated which can be expeditiously applied to or re- Theupper surface of each base is preferably curved to form a cam 10 over which the end of a latch 11 may ride, and the said base has a recess or seat 12in its upper face 13 which is oscillatably mounted on the surface of a part of one of the members and connected to the latch. The'latch is spring held to forcethe latch normally downwardly so that after the latch is carried inwardly over the camming surface of 1 the-base and it registers with the seat of the base, the'latch will be forced into the seat p and the unit will be retained inoperative position.

Each unit, in the present embodiment of the invention, consists ofa frame having a vertically disposed element or post 14 carrying an upper angularly disposed arm 15 and a lower angularly disposed arm 16 which is parallel with the arm 15. The lower end of the element 14 is rotatable in a bearing 17 on the standard and it is further embraced by a bracket 18 whose ends 19 may be secured to the standard by fastenings 20, such as rivets or the like. The lower horizontally disposed arm has a brace 20 on its outer end and the said brace extends diagonally upwardly into engagement withthe arm 15 and the element 14 at approximately their junction. Each of the arms 15 is preferably reduced in diameter toward its end to form a trunnion for the rollers 21 and 22 which are preferably each provided with a bushing 23 rotatable on the trunnion, and the said rollers are preferably held in spaced relation to each other by a sleeve 24 which fits the trunnion. The sleeve has recesses 25 at its ends which are intended to register with recesses 26 in the edges of the bushings to form clearances or apertures through which lubricant may be delivered to the trunnion. The rollers and sleeve are held assembled by a plate 27 on the outer end of the arm that may be secured in place by a screw 28.

Each standard is provided with guides such as 29 preferably arranged in pairs at different heights, and the element 14 is re duced in diameter at locations in registry with the said guides. The guides are intended to receive the shanks 30 of clamping elements 81, and-the said clamping elements are held at different positions of adjustment by set screws 32 threaded in the guides and bearing against the shanks of the clamps whereby they are frictionally held between the set screws and the face of the standard. The set or binding screws of the sets of clamps are out of alinement, as it is desirable that the clamps be applied to the guides in superimposed relation and that clearance be afforded for the movement of the clamps with relation to the guides in order that the clamps may be made to operate properly in conjunction with door frames of different widths. The angular-1y disposed ends of the clamps are preferably provided with cushioning facings 33, such as rubber or the like, which will serve to guard against injury to the finish of the door frames to which the device is applied, and where door frames are relatively narrow and are not provided with bearing surfaces against which the standards can be braced, filling strips such as 34 may be set back of the standard against the offset portion of a door frame to act as a bearing for the standard.

Under certain conditions of use, the standards may be anchored or held against movement by thumb screws or bolts such as 35 applied to one or more of the apertures 86 in the standards and imbedded in a door frame. Such anchorage will in many cases be found sufficient to withstand strain incident to the use of the device, but where it is undesirable that the iinishings of the door frame shall be punctured, as they would be by the use of thumb screws of bolts, the clamps may be employed.

It is seen from an inspection of the drawing that there is a clearance between the ends of the arms 15 and this clearance permits the passage of a director or operator in moving the casket, although it is desirable after the casket is taken from the house that nearly the full width of the door frame shall be available for use of those following the casket. It is the provision of the latches which permits the elements to be swung on their pivots which results in affording the clearance desired. The latches will be operated to release the units and they can be swung'to positions parallel with the sides of the door frame where they will occupy such little space as to be practically out of the way of those using the passage through the door frame. I

The element or post 14 and the arms and the brace for each unitmay be assembled or produced in any way known to those skilled in the art, and the inventor does not wish to be limited to the manner of manufacturing the device, since it may be formed by casting, or by connecting parts together through the use of couplings, or by brazing processes.

I claim:

1. In a casket support and transfer, adjustable frames consisting of bases and standards, each of said bases having camming upper surfaces and latch seats, an upright element rotatably mounted on each of the frames, an arm extending outwardly from the rotatable element near its upper end, means for bracing the structure, means for holding the rotatable element against movement, rollers on each arm in spaced relation to each other, and means for bolding the rollers assembled on the said. arm.

2. In a casket support and transfer a frame comprising a base and a standard, means for securing each standard to the frame of a door, a cam formed on the upper surface of each base, the said base having a latch seat therein, a substantially vertical rotatable element on each frame, an arm extending at right angles to each rotatable element near the top thereof, an arm extending from each rotatable element-near its lower end, a latch carried thereby for cooperating with the latch seat of the base for holding the rotatable element in one position, and casket supporting elements rotatable on the first mentioned arm.

, 3. In a casket support and transfer, a frame comprising a base and a standard,

means for securing each standard to the frame of a door, a cam formed'on the upper surface of each base, the said base having a latch seat therein, a substantially vertical rotatable element on each frame, an arm extending at right angles to each rotatable element near the top thereof, an arm extending from each rotatable element near its lower end, a latch extending therethrough and adapted to coact with the seat 10 of the base, a spring for urging the latch normally outwardly, and a lever associated with the latch for raising it against the action of the spring. I

SAMUEL C. SWEIGART. 

